Myanmar: Dutchman held for disrupting Buddhist worship

By Kyaw Ye Lynn

YANGON, Myanmar

A Dutch citizen has been arrested for insulting Buddhism after unplugging an amplifier used during worship in Myanmar’s second largest city Mandalay.

The hearing of Klaas Haytema, 30, began Monday after he was detained late Friday for pulling a plug on a speaker used to broadcast a Buddhist sermon in a religious community hall in Yadanar Bomme East ward of Maha Aung Myay Township in Mandalay Region.

The township court began hearing the case after he was charged under section 295 of the penal code for intending to insult religious feelings or beliefs, and under section 4 (2) and 13 (1) of the Myanmar Immigration Law.

Hla Myint, an officer of the tourist police unit in Mandalay, told Anadolu Agency that the tourist had admitted to carrying out the act because he was upset by the noise.

“He said it is too late for such a noisy sermon, and he was really upset for it,” said Hla Myint.

“Court hearing starts today,” he added.

Under the charges, Haytema is facing up to two years in jail or a fine or both.

Local Buddhist holidays are often celebrated with music, dance, stage performances and carnivals.

Monks and revelers in some communities use the Buddhist holidays as an excuse to collect donations and play rock and pop music over loudspeakers.

“No, it was just about 9 p.m., and we had applied for permission to use loud speaker,” said Kyaw San, the leader of the religious community hall in Mandalay who filed the case against the tourist.

“We know it is quite noisy, but he should show respect to us and our religion,” he told Anadolu Agency by phone Monday.

Residents of densely populated cities in Myanmar have been demanding stricter rules and regulations to control the use of loudspeakers in the country’s many religious festivals.

The predominantly Buddhist country is deeply devout and several foreigners have been found guilty of insulting religion over past years.

Religious intolerance has been on the rise in Myanmar since mid-2012, when communal tensions between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Muslims saw violence engulf parts of western Rakhine State -- home to around 1.2 million statement Rohingya Muslims.

The violence eventually spread to other areas of the country such as Mandalay, leaving dozens dead and around 140,000 displaced.